A compressor is one of several components in an air conditioning system. The compressor compresses a refrigerant circulating in the air conditioning system, raising a pressure and a temperature of thereof. Typically, the compressor is used in combination with a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator to heat or cool a desired space. Depending on a direction of flow of the refrigerant through the air conditioning system, the air conditioning system can be used to remove heat from the desired space or provide heat to the desired space.
Noise and vibration within the air conditioning system may be caused by pressure pulsation waves in the compressed refrigerant. The pressure pulsation waves in the refrigerant typically generate discrete narrowband tones at the harmonics of an operating speed of the compressor. The pressure pulsation waves in the compressed refrigerant usually originate at a discharge port of the compressor and propagate downstream, inducing additional noise and vibration upon contact with other components of the air conditioning system. The noise and vibration are particularly undesirable when the air conditioning system is located within a motor vehicle.
Various dampening devices have been designed to attenuate the pressure pulsation waves in the air conditioning system. For piston-driven compressors, the dampening devices typically include an expansion chamber positioned inside a housing of the compressor on a discharge side of a cylinder head. While such dampening devices can prevent pressure pulsation waves from propagating downstream, a placement of the expansion chamber adjacent the cylinder head decreases an operating efficiency of the compressor and increases an overall size of the compressor.
There are other known dampening devices for attenuating pressure pulsation waves in systems which convey a fluid under pressure (e.g. a power steering system of the motor vehicle). One such dampening device transfers a flow of the fluid under pressure from one perforated conduit to another perforated conduit as a means of attenuating the pressure pulsation waves. In particular, the dampening device includes a housing having a chamber formed therein, an inlet conduit provided with a plurality of apertures that allows the fluid from the system to flow into the chamber, and an outlet conduit provided with a plurality of apertures that allows the fluid to flow from the chamber into the outlet conduit and be returned to the system. Although the dampening device attenuates pressure pulsation waves generated by a fluid pump, the dampening device increases an overall size and complexity of the system.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to produce a dampening device which attenuates pressure pulsation waves generated by a compressor of an air conditioning system, while minimizing an effect on an operating efficiency of the compressor and a structural complexity and a package size of the air conditioning system.